Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Aug. 18
Walk this way
12:01 a.m. — 3800 block of GMD. Suspicious Person. Police observed a man with outstretched arms in the center of the northbound lane while facing southbound traffic. Police pulled over and confronted the man, who smelled of alcohol. He was given a warning for walking in the middle of the road and he agreed to walk home on the sidewalk.

Aug. 20
Constructive complaint
8:06 a.m. — 10 block of Avenue of the Flowers.Larceny. The owner of a vending-machine company reported that a machine he rented to a former Avenue of the Flowers tenant was discovered in a construction trailer on the site. Construction workers were using the machine and the man told police he wanted his machine back. The construction foreman told police he thought the machine had been abandoned and handed it over to police, who returned it to its rightful owner.

Lost sunglasses3:27 p.m. — 5300 block of GMD.Lost Property. A man told police he lost his $225 Ray-ban sunglasses while walking the beach.

Aug. 21
Banned from the beach
10:23 a.m. — 100 block of North Shore Road. Animal Nuisance. A Longboat Key Turtle Watch volunteer reported a medium-sized black dog roaming the beach near North Shore Road. The dog’s owner was issued a written warning for the offense.

Pricey dip7:42 p.m. — 700 block of Longboat Court.Larceny. A woman told police that while she took a dip in the Gulf, someone stole her belongings valued at more than $700, including her sunglasses, cellphone and clothes.

Aug. 22
Alternative arrangements needed
10:16 p.m. — 400 block of GMD. Traffic Violation. Police found a man walking north in the Gulf of Mexico Drive bike lane. He told police he was homeless and had plans to sleep on the beach for the night. Police told him that wasn’t going to happen.

Aug. 23
Early bird
6:22 a.m. — 800 block of Broadway.Suspicious Vehicle. A resident reported seeing a suspicious truck near a restaurant. The owner/occupant said that he is painting a house in the area but arrived too early and stopped at the restaurant to finish his coffee.

Washed up10 a.m. — 3700 block of GMD. Property Found. Public Works staffers took an abandoned wooden canoe that washed up on the beach to the police station.

Aug. 24
Killing time
9:54 a.m. — 500 block of Halyard Lane. Field Investigation. Police noticed a truck traveling eastbound with no signage identifying it as a construction vehicle before the driver got out and began walking toward a home at the end of the road. Police pulled up alongside the driver, who said that he was going to speak with a resident about a title job and was driving along the street to burn time before his 10 a.m. appointment.

Paper plummet2:52 p.m. — 2000 block of GMD. Property Found. Police found a metal clipboard with papers alongside the roadway and found that the items belonged to an air-conditioning company employee. The employee retrieved the clipboard and papers shortly after police called the company and said that the clipboard was left on the exterior of a company vehicle and fell into the roadway.